News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-04-28
Charles w. Merriam.


mont papers, 81. w. p" makes tn
following mention of Charles W. Mer
riam, who is well and favorabl
known in this county -
Vermont has furnished Chicago
with many men who, from compare
lively small beginnings, in a financia
sense, but large in point of native ca
pacity, energy and enterprise hav
come to be merchant princes in tn
lines of trade in which they have en-
gagged. They have been importan
factors in the building and rebuilding
of this great inter-oceanic city. II
no department of trade are Vermont
ers more conspicuous, perhaps, in thi.
city, than in that of the wholesale
grocery business, in which a number
of them are among the most promi.
nent and enterprising. | have here
tofore mentioned several and now
have something to say about the heat
of one of the largest wholesale houses
here, Charles W. Merriam, a repre-
sentative Of a name known in the an
nails of the Green Mountain State
senior member of the house of Mer'
riam, Collins & Co., corner Of Wa
bash Avenue and South Water St
He is prominent among those who
have been notable factors, almost
from the time the wholesale grocery
business commenced to assume the
vast proportions it now has, who have
worked energetically and faithfully to
bring it up to what it is to-day. Mr..
Charles w. Merriam, of whom [ an
writing, was born at Johnson, La
noble county VT, in the year 1915 ;
was educated at TIE johnson academy
and at st. Adams His father, Sam,
uel Merriam, was engaged in the mer-
camille business at Johnson for forty
successive years; he died in 1881,
after a long and successful career.
| His mothers maiden name was Han
nah French, and is now living at Wa
terbury, Washington county, Vt. The
family consists of eight children
three boys and five girls. The oldest,
Ellen, married Hon. J. H. Hastings,
a side judge in Vermont, director of
the Waterbury national bank and lives
at Waitsfeld; Abnie married j. G..
Moves and lives at Morrisvile, La
noble county; Mrs. r. w. Forrest.
is widow, living in Waterbury E.
b. Merriam, brother, is married and
lives at st. Johnsbury; Mrs. Tilling-
hast lives at Toledo, O.; Mrs. John
Messer, the widow of the late Gen.
Messer, who was Colonel of the 1O1st
Ohio regiment. Brevet Brigadier Cen
eral, one of the founders of the gro
Gerry house in 1865, and died January
6, 1874. is living in Chicago; w. F.
Merriam is married and lives at Min
neapois, Mimi. ; G. W. Merriam, the
subject of this mention, is the young
est of the family. He came to CHI
cago in 1865 and engaged in the
then wholesale grocery business of
Whitaker, Harmon & Co. as a clerk,
or rather at the bottom of the ladder,
the top round of which he has at
tanned and now stands upon. In 1870
the firm expired by limitation, Mr..
Whitaker retiring, and it became
Harmon, Messer & Co., and Mr.. Mer-
riam then became partner. Gen.
Messer diving in 1874 it was changed
to Harmon, Merriam & Co. Jan. l,
1885, Mr.. Harmon retired and the
firm became, and has been since.
Merriam, Collins & Co., and this was
when Mr.. Merriam reached that top
roand | alluded to above. The chan
yes in the name of the firm has in-
volved but slight change IN the per-
sonal, and each has been followed by
a continuous development and Increase
of its business, from small begin
ming to its present we'll rounded pro-
portions of an annual business of
about S3,O0H,000. have been thus
explicit in ndiing the changes in this
prominent firm to indicate to the Yer
mont readers the upcome Of Charles
w. Merriam, and that it has been the
result of his own capacity, devotion
to business, to which he was early in
clined, coupled with the most cautious
and rigid honesty and fair dealing in
meeting a capricious public demand,
and adherence to honorable rules of
business, which should govern all hon
orable and high minded business men.
The business, as l have stated, has
grown to large proportions, and to
give an idea of what this Nermonter
is the practical and directing head of.
but is calm and self-reliant under the
consciousness that he is fully able to
cope with the responsibilities, in his
way, l will give few
figures. They employ % travelling
and several city statesmen, and about
40 general employees. The building
for grocery business proper is &c by
$50 feet, four stories and basement.
Adjoining is a building 60 by 100 feet,
three stories, aid used for the whole
sale flour and fish department, both
on the bank of the river. Charles W.
Merriam is at the head of the house,
and he is Il Vermonter who has won
anu reGdluS tue iSSpSCG anu CoHuuChCS
of all who have to do with him in any
way. On Sept. 20, 1877, he married
Alice Harmon, daughter of Isaac
n. Harmon, Gate head of the firm) |
an old and highly respected citizen of
Chicago, who came here in 1888, when
it was little else than station in the
wilderness he is now living. His |
mother was a native of Bennington,
Vt. Mr. Merriam and his wife live
at 1878 Ellis Avenue. He is mem
Der of the Calumet and Washington
Park Clubs; vice president Of the
commercial exchange; a trustee of
the Sixth Presbyterian church, which
he attends, and of which Rev. j. H.
Worcester, late of Burlington, VT,
is pastor. l.. w. P.
MONTREAL is visited by a destruc-
tiye inundatigS--the result Of an ice
gorge in the st. Lawrence at that
point. There is much damage to
property, and no little suffering among
the poor people Of the district reached |
by the waters is reported. Several